Geekology 101: Now your journey is complete, my young apprentice

Thursday

May 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMMay 31, 2012 at 2:19 AM

I?don’t usually write about my kids. I leave that type of editorial content to those that do it better. But some things are just too important not to write about. Every father, well maybe every geek-father, has a dream. That dream involves "Star Wars."

Gary Darling

I?don’t usually write about my kids. I leave that type of editorial content to those that do it better.

But some things are just too important not to write about.

Every father, well maybe every geek-father, has a dream.

That dream involves sharing some of the things that we loved as kids with our children.

What we want is that after sharing this special something, the kids will then look upon that cherished item and love it as much, if not more, than we did.

This past Memorial Day weekend I had that chance with my eldest boy, Liam.

Though I was a little apprehensive, I?decided to saunter on and bring the world of the "Star Wars" trilogy (the original) to him.

I was a bit worried that he would find it boring or so out of date that he wouldn’t be interested in anything about. I had a bad feeling about this.

This would have been very disheartening to me. I mean, growing up in a house of four boys, we loved everything "Star Wars."

We had the toys, we had costumes, movies, etc., etc.

George Lucas could have possibly retired just from the licensing of the products that were in our household.

If Liam would have turned to me and told me that “this is terrible, Daddy,” like he did at a movie not so long ago, I?would have been crushed.

Luckily, my boy, who is only 3 years old, did me proud.

Not only did he enjoy "A?New Hope," he kept clamoring for more.

Each day, starting Saturday, we watched one episode from the original trilogy.

Saturday was "A New Hope," Sunday was "Empire Strikes Back" and finally "Return of the Jedi."

After each viewing, Liam would pretend he was in that world filled with weird creatures and cool characters.

He, of course, wanted to be a stormtrooper, much like I did when I was a boy.

I mean who wouldn’t want to get dressed up in one of the coolest costumes out there?

Also, he loved Boba Fett before he watched the films. I?have a Boba Fett Lego that he loves to play with, but he never knew who this guy was.

Now he has a better idea. Each time we would get ready to start up a new film, his first statement would involve something about Boba Fett.

Also something else happened that I didn’t expect. My almost 2-year-old son also started watching the trilogy.

I?mean, I?had no delusions of grandeur that such a young lad would find anything about the films fascinating. He has a hard enough time sitting through "Toy Story."

But there he was, right next to Liam enjoying the films as well. He even donned Liam’s old Jango Fett mask and paraded behind his older brother, who was wearing his Clone Trooper mask.

So this weekend was incredible and one of my proudest moments in my entire geekdom life.

My boys love the "Star Wars" trilogy. Now all is right with the force.

Gary Darling is the geekiest employee at the Maryville (Mo.) Daily Forum. His online blog address is justanewdad.blogspot.com, and his email is gdarling@maryvilledailyforum.com. Drop him a line sometime!